Thank you for being part of the INCyTE Research Coordination Network! Our primary goal is to help facilitate science by all members, but that does mean that we have to establish some ground rules for participating. The goal of this policy document is to foster collaboration within the INCyTE network, while also promoting a baseline level of fairness, openness, and transparency. Please note that we view this as a living document that will be regularly updated as needed.

If you have any questions about these policies, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the lead PIs: Cory Cleveland (cory.cleveland [at] umontana.edu) and Katy Dynarski (katherine.dynarski [at] umontana.edu).

We ask that network members and those who participate in network-facilitated activities adhere to the following guiding principles:

Please reach out to the project leads before you start an INCyTE-related project.

Before beginning an INCyTE-related project (see definitions below), please consult the projects page and contact the listed lead author on any similar proposal to avoid overlap, or join forces. Please fill out the project registration form, or email a brief description of your idea (including proposed collaborators) to the lead PIs. Project descriptions will be posted to the internal INCyTE website.

Please note that we don’t expect that all projects will involve all INCyTE members, but we encourage you to reach out to the broader INCyTE network to engage interested collaborators or members with relevant expertise. The lead PIs may also help identify appropriate INCyTE collaborators for proposed projects if desired.

What do we mean by INCyTE-related projects?

• Work (synthesis or experimental) based on concepts, ideas, or questions developed at INCyTE meetings, seminars, or other network forums
• Work that relies on use of datasets compiled by INCyTE efforts
• Work related to INCyTE themes and/or activities that involves one or more collaborators who are INCyTE members
• Any other type of project that wouldn’t happen without INCyTE

If you have questions about whether a project is considered “INCyTE-related,” please reach out to the PIs.

Authorship criteria:

Authorship on INCyTE-related products may be earned through a substantial contribution. Traditionally, project initiation and framing, data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation are all authorship-worthy contributions. We expect that all co-authors on INCyTE manuscripts to contribute to at least two of the areas below: 

• Developed and framed the research question
• Contributed data
• Analyzed data or contributed to data analyses
• Conducted model simulation or contributed to model simulations
• Wrote the majority of at least one of the sections of the paper
• Contributed to writing the paper by providing suggestions, text, citations, copy editing

Keep INCyTE PIs informed at appropriate milestones.

Milestones include idea outlining, initiation of research activities, major drafts, submission to journals/conferences, publication, and any challenges you may run into along the way.

Acknowledge INCyTE!

Please acknowledge INCyTE in any of your publications and products that have developed, even in a small way, as a result of the INCyTE RCN - whether that is ideas developed during INCyTE meetings, or a collaboration that came about through INCyTE. Acknowledgements that demonstrate tangible outcomes arising from the RCN are one important way we show value to NSF, so please consider being generous with acknowledgements.

In your published products and/or presentations, please use the following text in your acknowledgements sections:

We acknowledge support from a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Grant (INCyTE; DEB-1754126) to investigate nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems.